Book Expo America begins Friday and continues through Sunday, and the University of Nebraska Press, along with much of the rest of the publishing world, will be there.

As various articles in recent weeks have noted (see these Publisher’s Weekly stories), BEA will be a bit lower-key than in years past. But it will still be an event, and our four attendees will be blogging from BEA, about the various interesting things that take place there. One of the more popular features of BEA are all the free advance copies of fall titles up for grabs and the University of Nebraska Press is giving away limited numbers of two titles: Reconsidering Happiness by Sherrie Flick, a novel about two women who, at different times in their lives, leave the East Coast and their messy lives there for the vast Midwest; and In Rooms of Memory, an essay collection on writing, growing up in the shadow of a famous parent, and memory and the way it changes over the years, by Hilary Masters. So if you’re among the legions of book people who will actually be at BEA, stop by our booth (no. 2870) and grab a galley (or a magnetic poetry set – we’re giving those away, too).

Also of note is that our Bison Books Editor, Tom Swanson, will sit on ForeWord Magazine’s Indie Buzz panel. Tom will discuss Ted Kooser’s forthcoming memoir,Lights on a Ground of Darkness. This will take place Saturday at 11 a.m.

More BEA updates will follow once the event is actually in progress.

And in completely unrelated news, I leave you with a link to a story that first made this blog a few months ago. I’m sure many of you remember Silas, long-term resident of A Novel Idea Bookstore here in Lincoln, who passed away a few months ago. The downtown shop has two new feline residents, and you can read all about them here.